St. Thomas Aquinas' Meg Gambel (10) fouls John Curtis' Kolby Morgan (10 in the firt half as she drives to the basket for two point during the Girls Class 2A championship at Fant-Ewing Coliseum in Monroe. (David Grunfeld, NOLA.com | The Times-Picayune)

The basket was the defending champion Patriots' final successful shot in a physical, fast-paced, back-and forth Class 2A girls' basketball state championship game.

The rest of the contest and the afternoon belonged to the 2010 champion Falcons, who shot 6-for-7 at the free-throw line down the stretch and ran the clock out on the 49-42 victory.

"As the second half was going through and playing out, I felt more and more confident," St. Thomas Aquinas Coach John White said. "We weren't tired. We had caught our second wind … We have a veteran team, and they know what it takes. They're not gonna let this thing slip out of their grasp. They're not gonna let it happen.

"They let me jump up and down and go crazy on the sideline all I want. They're gonna get the job done."

In the early going, neither team had much luck offensively.

No. 4 Curtis (24-8) shot 3-for-17 (17.6 percent) from the field in the first quarter, while No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas (30-5) managed just a 6-for-23 (26.1 percent) start.

Under those circumstances, St. Thomas Aquinas' full-court, high-pressure defense became the early standout.

"We're not strangers to full-court, relentless pressure defense," Curtis Coach Barbara Farris said. "It was just something we had to withstand. We told 'em, 'They were gonna get their hands on balls. They were gonna get steals. Just make sure you get back, don't make the same turnover and just get a stop.'"

The Falcons scored 13 of their 15 first-quarter points off eight Curtis turnovers.

"When the offensive side doesn't fall, you've just gotta take up for it in another way on the defensive end," senior guard Carly Keller said.

St. Thomas Aquinas eventually forced 27 Patriot turnovers for the game — a figure that impressed even White and senior guard Amber Donnes afterward.

"That's 27 possessions they had an opportunity to score and we took it away," White said. "These girls like that pace. They like to run. It's organized chaos out there … I think the game before, we shot 65 times and made 20. We don't have to score. We've just gotta play defense."

The Falcons scored 32 points off Curtis' miscues.

Donnes, the game's Outstanding Player, lead the team with 14 points, eight rebounds and four steals.

Keller added seven points, seven rebounds, five steals and four assists, among a group of eight Falcons to score points and grab rebounds.

"They call this 'The Big Dance,'" White said. "They've been there. Their families have been there. Their friends have been there. We had a lot of alumni show up today … so it's there — the spirit. I keep referring back to confidence level. These girls are confident. You point at this moment where something bad happened, but they just turn it into something good and keep rolling with it."

The young Patriots kept fighting back.

"Our defense and taking care of the ball have got to be clutch for us consistently, and we just didn't do a good job of that tonight," Farris said. "But we were still in the game, which just goes to show how good this team is."

Morgan finished with a game-high 16 points, along with five rebounds and five steals.

"Coach told me that they were gonna be really physical and we were gonna have to brace ourselves, chin the ball and wait to get hit," Wallow said.

The contest — whether the pace, physicality or stage — clearly took its toll on the Patriots.

Junior guard Tori Henderson exited the game during the third quarter after re-aggravating a leg injury, and Morgan appeared limited late by a combination of a sinus infection and a number of hard hits and falls she endured.

"It was just my sickness kind of battling with me," Morgan said. "I had trouble breathing a little bit, but I still tried to fight through and finish out."

Morgan, Charles, Henderson and Wallow all figure to be among a large returning group next season.

Farris just hopes they bring a learned lesson back with them from Monroe.

"Just to stay hungry," the coach said. "There's a lot of media attention that goes along with anything associated with John Curtis, and you think championships, and we just always like to think, 'Regardless of whatever our record or whoever we have on the floor, you've just gotta stay humble and stay hungry.'"